{"538271":{"#nid":"538271","#data":{"type":"news","title":"U.S. Commerce Department awards 5-year grant to MBDA Business Center-Atlanta","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EThe U.S. Department of Commerce Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA) named Georgia Tech Research Corp. as a grant recipient to continue to operate an MBDA Business Center in Atlanta.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe federal funding will be distributed during a five-year period that ends in 2021. The funding amount per year is $298,255 for a total of $1.49 million.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe grant program is designed to help minority-owned firms across the nation create jobs, develop their business, and compete in the global economy.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EEstablished in 2004 and part of the Georgia Institute of Technology, the MBDA Business Center-Atlanta is a member of the national network of the U.S. Department of Commerce Minority Business Development Agency.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe are extremely pleased and honored the U.S. Department of Commerce has renewed our funding for another five-year term,\u201d said Donna Ennis, director of the MBDA Business Center-Atlanta. \u201cOur team has been busy working with businesses across Georgia and the Southeast helping to build not only the strength of minority-owned businesses, but the state\u2019s and region\u2019s economy as a whole.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EA key component of MBDA\u2019s Business Center Network is providing minority firms with access to technical expertise and resources to grow their businesses.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn the five-year period ending in 2015, MBDA Business Center-Atlanta helped 462 minority-owned businesses:\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cul\u003E\u003Cli\u003Esecure more than $577 million in contracts and procurement\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003Eaccess $177 million in capital\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003Ecreate or save 4,987 jobs\u003C\/li\u003E\u003C\/ul\u003E\u003Cp\u003EEnnis leads the MBDA Advanced Manufacturing Working Group, which is building a nationwide community of Minority Business Enterprise (MBE) manufacturers through its national network of 44 MBDA Business Centers. As part of that initiative, she launched the Connecting Advanced Manufacturing Program (CAMP) focused on providing contracting opportunities; assistance with launching new technologies, and building a nationwide ecosystem of MBE manufacturers. That led to the\u0026nbsp;National MBE Manufacturers Summit\u0026nbsp;2016 at Georgia Tech this past March 24.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAccording to the U.S. Census Bureau\u2019s 2012 Survey of Business Owners, minority-owned firms in the United States increased to 8 million in 2012 from 5.8 million in 2007. Those 8 million businesses employed 7.2 million Americans.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn Georgia, there are 371,588 minority-owned firms that contribute more than $38.4 billion annually in economic output.\u0026nbsp;These firms employ more than 202,000 Georgians.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESince 2009, MBDA Business Centers have assisted minority firms with gaining access to more than $31 billion in capital and contracts, while creating and retaining nearly 142,000 jobs.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2014 P\u00e9ralte C. Paul\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":"","field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"The MBDA Business Center-Atlanta provides business and technical assistance to help emerging and existing minority business enterprises achieve significant growth and sustainability and create long-term economic impact through increased jobs and revenue."}],"uid":"28137","created_gmt":"2016-05-20 11:48:13","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:21:42","author":"P\u00e9ralte Paul","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2016-05-17T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2016-05-17T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"538291":{"id":"538291","type":"image","title":"Peterson-Ennis","body":null,"created":"1464703200","gmt_created":"2016-05-31 14:00:00","changed":"1475895326","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:55:26","alt":"Peterson-Ennis","file":{"fid":"89504","name":"img_7599_2_1.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/img_7599_2_1.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/img_7599_2_1.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1004591,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/img_7599_2_1.jpg?itok=eFB6659r"}}},"media_ids":["538291"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/mbdabusinesscenter-atlanta.org\/2899\/national-mbe-manufacturers-summit-major-success\/","title":"National MBE Manufacturers Summit Major Success"}],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"}],"categories":[{"id":"139","name":"Business"}],"keywords":[{"id":"170010","name":"MBDA Business Center Atlanta"},{"id":"128391","name":"U.S. Department of Commerce"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"106361","name":"Business and Economic Development"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EFor media inquiries, contact:\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ELaura Diamond\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E404.894.6016\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:laura.diamond@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Elaura.diamond@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EFor information about MBDA Business Center-Atlanta, contact:\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ERolanda Powell\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E404.894.8150\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:rolanda.powell@innovate.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Erolanda.powell@innovate.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["peralte.paul@comm.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}